Luggage



June 3, 1952 CAPRA 2,598,888

LUGGAGE Filed Sept. 23, 1949 E It:

INVENTOR. 7 411! H Capra Patented June 3, 1952 LUGGAGE fi ezm ii.intraji hiiatelen a,rs. h;

"'l v a The present invention has to 210 with :luggage and is concerned vprimarily with that 'type or luggage that. i 00111111911115 tm h a a dinggageand which is used tostore various articles for traveling purposes. 7 I e e a I accordance. w thiwn sni ml nd ne flai i- 1yv well standardized practice, a piece of hand luggage ordinarily coznprises tvvo pcmplernental parts which e a e whe a osl i 'sii p to define the interior-material receiving "coinpartment of the luggage. 'These lpa'rts are hingedl y connected together and a 'clasp is usualjly employed to maintain theiip'arts'in leseai' esition. r

In accordance vvith present iday lpra'tice 'v'vh'n the clasp is released; the iis'r :iiiustfhpen 'the :top pertto obtain cces'sftothe interior.

The presentiriventitinhas in View as its'foremost objective, the provisiqp 6r a piee' orfhafia luggage, of the type maimed, which 'meludes means-tor automatically "opemfi o e fps 1- 'ative "t0 the other co ih'd iiii it withflea'se "6f "the Clasp means 'th'aTtfhdlfdS "tl'l'l'h 1157:)g i'lhI. e

In carrying out this idea ajbrajcket mem er is "secured toan iniir fside Wall "of sneer the luggage parts. This bracket n'frnherfcarries a pivot pin on which is piv'emnwmeuntea a ever. One end of this lever is"pivotallyfconi'ietted"to a link that has its oth'erend 'pivotallyico'nne'ct'etl 'to the other luggage part. A spring andeyuniier assembly is also carried b'fthefbralhketandfthe spring of this assembly is attahe'dtt: thedthr end of said lever.

The spring is, an expansion coil spring and when the luggage "parts arefbfouglht into closed position, the link ahd' lver sneerandspring to place it under compression. when tl'ie' clasp is released, the spring affects the iiever to cause pivotal movement thereof which force is transmitted through the linkltofcause-relative bpeniiig movement of'th'e Iuggag parts.

Various other 'm'ored'etailed objects and adapparent, and inparfiheh" iriafter staitdl s "the description of the "inifiiti'inlproeeds.

'I'he inventiontherforecofiiprises 'apice of hand luggage that consists of two complemental the precepts of'this invention.

paiwtsnenafs-are'in eieseurpesm n. "TEE tion coincident with release of said clasp.

v For a -fu11 and Tniore complete ;-un der's'tan dihg or the invention refere'ncemay be had to the following description and accompanying craw- Wherein;

, --Figur e 1 is ;a -ve'r'tica1 section "tl'iroiigh a ;piece of handiuggage 1 designed in I accordance with 1 Figure'lis a viewtaken on an 'fiiaigfifs'cale, mostly in eievation but with parts broken away and shown in section illustrating "the "actuating sc m a F o a Figure3 is a front end view inostlyinelevation but with parts broken away and shown insection of the v piece }of hand luggage-shown in Figure 1. Referring now -the "drawing wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts, and first more particu1ar1y=to Figures 1 and 3, there is therein illustrated apiece of hand lug- :gage whichema y, be taken as "typical of one type which is now meeting with rthe app'rovalio'fthe using public. 'I his piece of luggage comprises the E complementalparts 'A and B. Forftne'pur- 'poses of thisespecific'ation, the :pert iniwiu be called the top-and the 'pait B will "be called' the bottom or-mainhodylpart. Theftop'ipart Accmprises, a top wall [I], a front-Wall! l,a 'i*ear"fwall -l2 and two -opposite1y disposed'si'de Walls 1'3.

--A t this-point it is well to note that both of the luggage v.eparts, A and "B'may be inade "from any of the mat'erials which are commonly used in the luggage art. The-invention has particu- -larlyin mindlthe'use of leather aseppreferred material, although 'it contemplates "the use of fabric "compositions, {plastics anti other inaterials' from which hand luggage is made.

The 'bottomipartB comprises "abottomwan M, a front wen i 5, a earjvvall T6, "'and two "0p- 7 positely disposed siae walls 1'1.

:The rear Walls f2 (and I 6 ihave "theirteii'ges "in abutting f'r'elation' asiiliustrateii 'in Figure "1 "and "a hinge device represented, at H! serves "to hingedlyfconnectthese rear Walls 11.2 anti ls wneiemeymeet. 4 r

v 'The'front wens l fa'ndl also have'ed'gesin abutting 'reIati'on and one "or' more *clasp "fievi'ces such as indicated fat "I? fina'y be employed for 1f e1asab1y "holding the ffdr'it wens "with their edges in 'ifi'eeting 'ilatid' n. 'Tifthis fici sitiohfthe such as represented at I 9 "'ir'iayinciude operating members indicated at 20 which may be availed of to release the clasps.

acteristic of a bell crank is designated 21 and mmPriSeS tW angularly disposed sections 28 and s 29. A slot 30 is formed in this lever 21 at the 7 angle between the sections 28 and'29 and this taining the assembled relation. A link 3| is pivotally connected to the free end of the lever section 29 by a pin as indicated at 32. The other end of the link 3| is pivotally connected to one of the side walls l3 of the top partA as indicated at 33 in Figure 1. V V

The flange 23 is formed with an opening 34 in which'is anchored one end of a cylinder 35. The cylinder 35 has a closed end as indicated at 36, while the other end is closed by a closure member 31 that is formed with a skirt 38 which is fitted into the mouth of the cylinder 35. The closure member 31 is formed with a central aperture 39 through which passes a pull rod 40. The outer free end of this pull rod 40 is turned over to form a hook or loop which is interlocked with an opening 4| formed in the lever'section 28. The inner end of the pull rod 40 is located within the cylinder 35 and is secured to a spring follower42. l I

An expansion coil spring 43 is positioned in the cylinder 35 about the pull rod 40 with one end engaging the spring follower 42 and the er end the skirt 38 of the closure3'l.

. Operation While the operation of the mechanism above described is believed to be self-evident from the description of the parts given, it may be briefly outlined by noting that when the parts A and are moved towards "one another the lever 21 1s othaffected by the link 3| to cause it to be rotated about the pin 25 in a clockwise direction. This means that the lever section 281s moved away from the flange 23. This exerts a pull on the pull rod 49 that is transmitted to the spring follower 42, and as the latter is moved inthe cylinder 35, the spring 43 is compressed.

Thus, when the parts A and B reach the'closed position depicted in Figures 1 and 3, there is an appreciable amount of energy stored up in the spring 43. The clasp means 19 holds the parts A and B in closedrposition until such time as it is desired to open the piece of luggage.

Upon release of the clasp means the spring follower 42 is forced downwardly into the cylinder 35 by the spring 43 to exert a pull on the pull rod 40. This rotates the lever 21 in'a counterclockwise direction. Thus, the lever section 29 is moved upwardly or outwardly of the luggage part B and due to the link 31 being pivotally connected to the free end of the lever section 29 and the luggage part A, the latter is moved up- .wardly into opened position.

An important feature of the present invention is the smoothness of the openingoperation. This smoothness maybe attributed, at ,least partial- 'ly, to. the cooperation of ;the spring followerfl 4 1 with the closed end of the cylinder 35. parts function much in the manner of a dashpot. Thus, the opening is a smooth even motion rather than a quick snap or jerk.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is hereinbefore set forth, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructions, mechanisms, and devices illustrated and described because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into prac- What is claimed is:

I 1. In a piece of hand luggage including com- 7 plemental parts hingedly connected together and clasp means for holding said parts in closed poslot 30 receives the pin 25 with the he'a'd'26 main sition with one of said parts having a side wall, a bracket secured to said side wall, a pivot pin carried by said bracket, alever having a slot receiving said pivot pin, a link having one end pivotally connected to one end of said lever and its other end pivotally connected to the other of said luggage parts, a cylinder carried by said bracket having a closed end and an open end, a closure for said open end, a spring follower for said cylinder between said closed end and said closure, a pull rod having one end connected to said spring follower with its other end connected to said lever at the side of said pivot remote from the connection of said link to said lever, said pull rod passing through an opening in said closure and an expansion coil spring in said cylinder about said pull rod and between said springfollower and said closure.

2. In a piece of hand luggage including complemental parts hingedly connected together and clasp means for holding said parts in closed position with one of saidv parts having a side wall, a bracket secured to said side wall, a pivot pin carried by said bracket, a lever consisting of angularly disposed sectionshaving a slot at the angle between said sections receiving said pivot pin, a link having one end pivotally connected to one end of said lever and its other end pivotally connected to the other of said luggage parts, a flange on said bracket formed with an opening, a. cylinder anchored in said opening having a closed end and an open end, a closure for said open end, a spring follower in said cylinder between said closed end and saidclosure, a pull rod having'one end connected to said spring follower with its other end connected to said lever at the side of said pivot remote from the conand said closure.

PAUL H. CAPRA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number, Name Date 409,009 Buckmaster Aug. 13, 1889 443,138 Goepel Dec. 23, 1890 448,139 Mayer Mar. 10, 1891 790,483 Demartini May 23, 1905 1,136,865 Cherney Apr. 20, 1915 1,194,708 Buckwalter Aug. 15, 1916 1,549,705 Antonio Aug. 11, 1925 2,340,702 Schwab Feb. 1, 1944 These 

